Harry Potter fucking sold out (but the rest of my childhood didn't).
You know how they say that the older you get, the more you look back on the things you had when you were young, only to realize that there's a lot of things you just didn't appreciate back then because you just didn't get it? I used to think I got it, personally, but now that I'm in my twenties, I can look back on the 90's and realize, "Holy fuck, the 90's were awesome."
And it's true. Granted, you have a nice pile of gems these days, but it always seems like even the shittiest pieces of the 90's has some level of charm. 90's film may have been terrible in terms of effects and storylines, but the fact that they were unapologetic about it seems better than the shitty camerawork and conspicuous CGI of mediocre films today. (Aside: I'm sorry, guys. I nearly vomited during the first twenty minutes of The Hunger Games, and the rest of the camerawork done in the film wasn't much better. Whoever shot that film needs to be maced. And don't get me started on the 3D BS that they're pulling now. What's the point of paying to see a movie when you can't even actually see the movie without hurting yourself?) 90's pop may have been trite and crapped out by fabricated bands, but it's still somehow better than the auto-tuned, self-indulgent pop of the past ten years.
Then, there's children's shows. It's a popular opinion, though. Shows in general back then got away with a lot more, and beyond that, they were more creative and had generally interesting characters. Sure, there were some shitty ones back then (half of Nickelodeon, honestly), and sure, there's a few good cartoons now. But the point is that back then, creative teams didn't just pander to an audience or insult their audience's intelligence.
All of this came about because I've rediscovered probably the best children's show ever created: The Adventures of Pete & Pete. You can find entire episodes all over YouTube, with absolutely no indication that they're being taken down, but if you can find a DVD set of the seasons (which isn't that difficult), I'd say go for it.
Now, I'll openly admit something here. When the show aired, I was in the age bracket who only cared about cartoons. My brother, who was about Big Pete's age at the time, enjoyed it, but I just didn't get it. And it's a shame, too, because what The Adventures of Pete & Pete did was embody basically what I remember of the 90's.
It's rather difficult to describe -- both the show and the era -- without actually showing it, but to put it in short, Pete & Pete had a sort of irreverence to it. It skirted the edge between what made sense and what didn't. I suppose the best way to explain that line is by mentioning the Nostalgia Critic's thought on it: it took the little things kids thought were big deals and actually made them into big deals. So, the very basis of a story might be on a perfectly ordinary algebra class that any kid might have suffered through, but in the world of Pete & Pete, it might have turned into a full-on revolution against adults, complete with a total kid uprising. Another episode -- also one of my favorites -- centered around a "career week" in which the mid-teen characters actually worked as bus drivers and vending machine stock kids, and it had images like raw steaks and first-class tickets to Venezuela popping out of perfectly ordinary, 60's-style vending machines.
But there's really more to it than that. Like I said, it embodied the 90's that I remember. It was modern (for its time), but it had throwbacks to the 60's. Not the counterculture, acid-dropping 60's, really, but the 60's of middle-class suburbia. In a way, its sense of humor and surrealism might be a little reminiscent of 90's retro art: bright, blocky callbacks to the ads of the 40's, 50's, and 60's with a healthy dose of 90's insight and cynicism. That isn't to say that Pete & Pete was cynical. In fact, it was actually incredibly innocent and naive. It simply said no to conforming... by basically shirking reality altogether.
Even more than that, there's a sharp difference between modern media and the media of the 90's as shown by Pete & Pete. Nowadays, you have two types of entertainment: the type that tries to make a point but gets either incredibly dark about it (or tries too hard to make it) and the type that doesn't even bother with a point at all. A lot of 90's entertainment might have been anvillicious about their points, but shows like Pete & Pete were subtle. For one, Pete & Pete by itself covered topics like nostalgia, a parent's love, the point of an education, and being trustworthy and loyal, but you'd never know that's what it was talking about until you think a little harder about it. It didn't insult your intelligence; it aimed to entertain you but assumed that you'd eventually go back and think about it later.
Also, this may sound weird, but it reminds me of summer. The 90's in general does (bright colors, mind candy, the idea of taking a break from reality to embrace surrealism or that "good-time" happy feeling), but Pete & Pete more so. I guess part of this is because it's the only show that actually defined summer by having a man wearing a plastic ice cream mask describe it as, "fireflies, thunderstorms, butts wet on the car seat." It was, basically, that kind of show.
So I'm watching through it now -- any episodes that I can find -- now that I'm older and wiser and more capable of appreciating it for what it is. It sort of makes me miss the 90's because, frankly, I sort of wish I could've experienced having crazy adventures with a bunch of friends in a car, without really thinking too much about the internet or technology being everywhere, if that makes sense. But more than that, I sort of miss the bright colors and quirkiness that shows like Pete & Pete pulled off.
With that said, heading off to breakfast, but first, a few clips to share, just to show you how awesome this show was:
This entry was cross-posted from http://mercoledi.dreamwidth.org/91545.html.
And it's true. Granted, you have a nice pile of gems these days, but it always seems like even the shittiest pieces of the 90's has some level of charm. 90's film may have been terrible in terms of effects and storylines, but the fact that they were unapologetic about it seems better than the shitty camerawork and conspicuous CGI of mediocre films today. (Aside: I'm sorry, guys. I nearly vomited during the first twenty minutes of The Hunger Games, and the rest of the camerawork done in the film wasn't much better. Whoever shot that film needs to be maced. And don't get me started on the 3D BS that they're pulling now. What's the point of paying to see a movie when you can't even actually see the movie without hurting yourself?) 90's pop may have been trite and crapped out by fabricated bands, but it's still somehow better than the auto-tuned, self-indulgent pop of the past ten years.
Then, there's children's shows. It's a popular opinion, though. Shows in general back then got away with a lot more, and beyond that, they were more creative and had generally interesting characters. Sure, there were some shitty ones back then (half of Nickelodeon, honestly), and sure, there's a few good cartoons now. But the point is that back then, creative teams didn't just pander to an audience or insult their audience's intelligence.
All of this came about because I've rediscovered probably the best children's show ever created: The Adventures of Pete & Pete. You can find entire episodes all over YouTube, with absolutely no indication that they're being taken down, but if you can find a DVD set of the seasons (which isn't that difficult), I'd say go for it.
Now, I'll openly admit something here. When the show aired, I was in the age bracket who only cared about cartoons. My brother, who was about Big Pete's age at the time, enjoyed it, but I just didn't get it. And it's a shame, too, because what The Adventures of Pete & Pete did was embody basically what I remember of the 90's.
It's rather difficult to describe -- both the show and the era -- without actually showing it, but to put it in short, Pete & Pete had a sort of irreverence to it. It skirted the edge between what made sense and what didn't. I suppose the best way to explain that line is by mentioning the Nostalgia Critic's thought on it: it took the little things kids thought were big deals and actually made them into big deals. So, the very basis of a story might be on a perfectly ordinary algebra class that any kid might have suffered through, but in the world of Pete & Pete, it might have turned into a full-on revolution against adults, complete with a total kid uprising. Another episode -- also one of my favorites -- centered around a "career week" in which the mid-teen characters actually worked as bus drivers and vending machine stock kids, and it had images like raw steaks and first-class tickets to Venezuela popping out of perfectly ordinary, 60's-style vending machines.
But there's really more to it than that. Like I said, it embodied the 90's that I remember. It was modern (for its time), but it had throwbacks to the 60's. Not the counterculture, acid-dropping 60's, really, but the 60's of middle-class suburbia. In a way, its sense of humor and surrealism might be a little reminiscent of 90's retro art: bright, blocky callbacks to the ads of the 40's, 50's, and 60's with a healthy dose of 90's insight and cynicism. That isn't to say that Pete & Pete was cynical. In fact, it was actually incredibly innocent and naive. It simply said no to conforming... by basically shirking reality altogether.
Even more than that, there's a sharp difference between modern media and the media of the 90's as shown by Pete & Pete. Nowadays, you have two types of entertainment: the type that tries to make a point but gets either incredibly dark about it (or tries too hard to make it) and the type that doesn't even bother with a point at all. A lot of 90's entertainment might have been anvillicious about their points, but shows like Pete & Pete were subtle. For one, Pete & Pete by itself covered topics like nostalgia, a parent's love, the point of an education, and being trustworthy and loyal, but you'd never know that's what it was talking about until you think a little harder about it. It didn't insult your intelligence; it aimed to entertain you but assumed that you'd eventually go back and think about it later.
Also, this may sound weird, but it reminds me of summer. The 90's in general does (bright colors, mind candy, the idea of taking a break from reality to embrace surrealism or that "good-time" happy feeling), but Pete & Pete more so. I guess part of this is because it's the only show that actually defined summer by having a man wearing a plastic ice cream mask describe it as, "fireflies, thunderstorms, butts wet on the car seat." It was, basically, that kind of show.
So I'm watching through it now -- any episodes that I can find -- now that I'm older and wiser and more capable of appreciating it for what it is. It sort of makes me miss the 90's because, frankly, I sort of wish I could've experienced having crazy adventures with a bunch of friends in a car, without really thinking too much about the internet or technology being everywhere, if that makes sense. But more than that, I sort of miss the bright colors and quirkiness that shows like Pete & Pete pulled off.
With that said, heading off to breakfast, but first, a few clips to share, just to show you how awesome this show was:
Click to viewThis entry was cross-posted from http://mercoledi.dreamwidth.org/91545.html.